Cards
by mathieuvezina
Summary: A fanfiction that follows Chiyuki and Decims as they discover stories of people that come into Quindecim through harsh mind games.


Cards

CHAPTER 1

Holding hands

The bar lounge was almost empty. Focusing enough, you could even hear the soft noise the tissue made against the glass. Behind the bar, Decim was cleaning glasses. I slowly advanced.

Welcome, Chiyuki. Did you sleep well? He asked.

Not any better than every other day, I stuttered.

I was a bit bored, these last few days. I still had lots of things to remember and not so much time remaining before I had to face the truth of my death. I was aware that, in a way, I was decaying. My body still felt like it could do anything I wanted it to do, but it's what I felt inside that made me realize, a few nights ago, that I had to speed up my pace, to discover what was really going on here. For all I knew, I could still be dreaming – or this could be the afterlife.

Decim poured me a glass of a drink he calls the Devil's Touch. It's layered in three colours – blue, black and red. I see him in this drink – it feels like something familiar – sweet, but also very sour. I do trust Decim. In the past days or weeks, I've seen him show more emotions than I thought I'd ever see for a person in his position. An arbiter, as you might know, must not show any kind of weakness and in this world, emotions are by far one of the biggest weaknesses one may have.

As I finished drinking from my glass, the two elevators doors ringed. They were here. Walking towards us were a man and a woman, holding hands. This was going to be rough.

CHAPTER 2

The devil's touch

The man seemed slightly more as a discomfort than the woman. To be honest, he didn't have anything worth mentioning. His hair was brown, so were his eyes. He was wearing a white shirt, some bleached jeans and flip-flops. He sat on the far right chair, leaving the woman in front of Decim and me.

She stood tall, in front of us. Her vibrant blue hair made it clear that, in a certain way, she didn't feel scared. However, the slight shaking coming from her hand as she grabbed the glass Decim gave to her made it clear that this was mostly an act, and not a reality. Her blouse was black and she had an immaculate white scarf, alongside a black skirt and some high heels. Her shoes were what caught my eyes the most, because they had they precious stones incrusted in them – rubies, I presumed. Rubies were considered the queens of the stones and the stone of the kings. I always saw them as a sign of power. The woman finished her glass and violently smashed it against the near stone beam.

Another, she said.

At the other end of the bar, the man was sitting, quietly. He hadn't touched his drink yet. Decim poured the woman another Devil's Touch and slid it to her.

Welcome to Quindecim. We will now have you play a game.

A g-ame? The man stuttered.

Can't you hear? He just said so! Said the woman, hitting the bar with her fist.

Decim explained to them what this was all about. As he went on with his explanation, you could see sweat pouring down off the man's forehead. He was trembling with fear and the woman was burning with rage. Her face was getting more and more red – either from the alcohol or the rage – it didn't quite matter because at this very moment, I looked at her vibrant blue hair, her black blouse and the rubies on her shoes and thought: « She's the Devil's Touch ».

CHAPTER 3

History

Decim presented the red button to the couple. He explained that whatever game was chosen would be the way to decide which one of them was going to hell and which other was going to reincarnate in a future life.

Let's press it together, my love. Said the woman.

Sure, Asami.

Asami. That was her name. The morning sea – that's what it meant. As the morning goes, the seas grow higher and stronger and they destroy everything that dares stand in their way. They pressed the button, and the roulette went on. I always felt this was the longest part of all of the process – to wait until the wheels finally stopped to show us the game that would decide the fates of the two souls that happened to fall into Quindecim. It stopped.

Your fate will be decided by a game of cards, Decim said quietly.

As he finished his sentence, the whole bar began grumbling. Asami was astonished, while the man kept trembling – he hadn't stopped since he got here. Wind started blowing in our way as the game was slowly taking place in front of our eyes. A large parcel of floor changed itself into a four by three rectangle, divided in twelve rectangles. All of them were blue, almost translucent screens. Four spots went on to light up the board – the game was ready.

What is this? Asked Asami, angrily.

Decim began explaining the game. The blue screens were a set of 12 cards, which were divided in 6 pairs. 3 pairs were red and 3 pairs were green. All of the cards had a drawing on them, corresponding in a secret one kept from the other. The goal was simple: each lover was assigned a colour. Making pairs of their given colour would mean that the secrets would remain silent, as making pairs of the opposing colour would allow them to discover what the other had been hiding from them. If one person made two mistakes, the board was shuffled back anew and secrets that remained silent would be put back in the game, even the ones eliminated by one or the other contestant.

Pfft, that man doesn't have any secrets – I know all about him, Asami laughed.

She didn't have time to finish her sarcastic laugh – he had hit her. A violent slap on the cheek. Asami raised her head and looked at him, a tear slowly flowing down from her right eye. She raised her neck, as if she wanted to look taller than him.

Let's begin the game, shall we? She said.


End file.
